Before falling seriously ill, Alain Delon announced it publicly: he wanted to be buried in the chapel of his Douchy property nestled in Gâtinais (Loiret). The grave would already be dug behind the altar. The Samurai thought of everything: over the years, he buried his fifty dogs around his chapel. Per couple. Surrounded by walls and gates, this 120 hectare property, far from view, is his haven of peace. For half a century, he has lived so many happy days. First with Mireille Darc, then with Rosalie van Breemen. It will become his tomb according to his wishes.

Will his heirs let fans come on pilgrimage? Are they going to create a museum there, like Claude François’ mill, south of Paris? It will all depend on what happens to the property that costs a fortune to maintain. If they decide to sell Douchy, Anthony, Anouchka and Alain-Fabien Delon have three options.

Either they divide the property and put the chapel and the other tombs in a separate lot. If direct access is not possible, they negotiate a right of way with the new owner. They can also sell the property with the chapel and negotiate an inalienable right of passage for themselves and their descendants. Either they move Alain Delon’s grave and place it in a cemetery. In this case, the graves of the 45 dogs will have to be abandoned. Which amounts to going against their father’s last wishes.

Also read “I want to die, life is over”: what Alain Delon’s hearings reveal to investigators

Being forced to move a grave due to the sale of the property has already happened. Marie de Fonscolombe, the mother of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1875-1972) does not rest like so many members of the family in the cemetery near their manor in Saint-Maurice-de-Rémens in Ain. However, she was adored by the villagers. According to the writer’s beneficiaries, she rested in one of the family’s castles in the South. When this castle was sold, she was “moved” to another residence. When the latter was also sold, the writer’s mother was buried in a cemetery.

Being buried on your property is extremely rare. Like Alain Delon, you must obtain the right from the Prefect. Which is not obvious. Hence the rarity. Alain Delon will join the very exclusive club made up of Bernadette and Pauline Lafont, Michel Piccoli, Sacha Distel, Yul Brynner and former president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. Internationally, it is just as rare. In South Africa, Nelson Mandela rests on his home farm in Qunu. In the United States, the most famous case is that of Elvis Presley buried just behind his swimming pool, near his daughter Lisa Marie and his grandson Danny Keough, at his Graceland property in Memphis, Tennessee.

In Great Britain, Princess Diana rests in Althorp on a small island in the center of an oval lake surrounded by 36 oak trees on the Spencer property, where she grew up. A decision by his brother who wanted Diana’s sons, Harry and William, to be able to meditate in complete privacy. However, so that the public can pay homage to him, a mausoleum was installed in the park.

Also in Great Britain, the writer Virginia Woolf rests at the foot of a tree in the garden of Monk’s house, her 18th century cottage nestled in the village of Romell in the south-east of England. In the north of Europe, the Danish writer Karen Blixen (Out of Africa) is buried at the bottom of the park of her marvelous property north of Copenhagen, in Rungstedlund. Absolutely worth visiting as the house and the park are still full of life as if it were still there. In Jamaica, Bob Marley rests in a mausoleum near his childhood home in Nine Mile. It can be visited in exchange for 25 dollars and is one of the most popular tourist places in Jamaica.

Also read: Hitchcock, Brando, Lennon, Belmondo… The hidden graves of the stars

Michel Piccoli, who died in 2020 at the age of 94, rests on his land, in his manor in Saint-Philbert-sur-Risle in Eure. In the Var, there are still many fans of Sacha Distel who want to pay tribute to the singer of La Belle Vie, who died in 2004. “My father rests with his mother-in-law, whom he adored, and my aunt on our property at Rayol-Canadel-sur-Mer. The cellar is in an exceptional location facing the sea, Laurent Distel told us at the end of 2022. Nothing is organized, it is on demand. If I’m there, I’ll open it willingly. I just ask people who want to reflect not to take photos and not to post anything on social media.” The same rule applies to Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, who rests at the edge of the park on the property adjoining the village cemetery of Authon (Loir-et-Cher). “A gate is open and allows the public to go and meditate,” his family said.

Elsewhere, according to Protestant tradition, Bernadette Laffont and her daughter Pauline rest in their farmhouse, located in the Cévennes, today managed by David Lafont, Bernadette’s son. He transformed the place into a lodge. In the royal abbey of Saint-Michel de Bois-Aubry, in Luzé, near Tours, a place that can be visited, it is also possible to visit the tomb of Yul Brynner, unforgettable actor in The Seven Mercenaries. How did the ashes of this Hollywood star find asylum in the south of Touraine in the depths of the countryside? “The story is complex,” Belgian Christine Gribomont, owner of the estate with her husband, Marc-Olivier, told us in 2022. During our first visit, in 2006, we were told nothing. Then we discovered that in addition to these 12th century walls listed as Historic Monuments, we were going to be in charge of the tomb of the Russian-American actor who died in 1985 in New York.”

And to explain: “At the time, the ashes had been transferred by his last wife to their property in Normandy. When she decided to sell it, she looked for another place. It turns out that Bois-Aubry was occupied by a community of Orthodox monks, one of whom was a friend. The urn was then moved a second time.” Here, unlike Sacha Distel’s property, you have to pay 8 euros for entry. “In our region, tourists come mainly for the castles. There are so many beautiful places and the competition is very strong, explains the lady. Half the visitors come here for Brynner.” The abbey only opens in fine weather, from April 1st.

“More and more artists who have died recently have no place where we can pay their respects,” notes Bertrand Beyern, guide and cemetery specialist. Wanting to be buried on your property is fraught with meaning. In their last wishes, artists sometimes ask themselves to be left in peace. “We live in such a world of images that after death an artist may want to take the opposite view of all that,” analyzes psychiatrist Christophe Fauré, author of This life and… beyond, at Albin Michel. He will make the difference between himself as a celebrity, whose work continues to live, and the deep being, who belongs only to himself.

Immense artists whose grave is in a private place have existed since the golden age of Hollywood. Anthony Perkins rests in the garden of his villa in Hollywood. Luke Perry III star of the series Beverly Hills is buried at his property in Vanleer, Tennessee. The list of American presidents buried in their family home is particularly long. Richard Nixon rests at his home in Yorba Linda, California. Lyndon B Johnson was buried at his Stonewall ranch in Texas. Dwight D Eisenhower is buried in Abilen, Kansas. Herbert Hoover’s grave is at his home in West Branch, Iowa, Thomas Jefferson is in Albemarle, Virginia. Finally Andrew Jackson rests in Hermitage, Tennessee.

Also read: George Michael’s burial site finally revealed, five years after his last Christmas…

“There is often a dichotomy between the flamboyance of their character and what they were as an individual,” analyzes psychiatrist Christophe Fauré. Marilyn Monroe appeared as a femme fatale, but was a tormented person in private. This hiatus is found in death. Hiding your grave is equivalent to protecting your privacy.” And to continue: “When the family does not wish to reveal the location of the burial, it is so that they can go and pray peacefully, without paparazzi, without strangers who monopolize the place by leaving objects there which are not always tasteful”. There is no question for Mickael Jackson’s family that it will become a destination of pilgrimage with the sale of derivative products, like that of Elvis Presley at Graceland. Keeping the location a secret avoids an organizational and security headache. Artists like their families may also want to keep the most absolute secrecy for fear that fans will go too far by attacking the grave.